Kathy Gibson at Fujitsu Forum, Munich — One of the enabling technologies driving Industrie 4.0 is the Internet of Things (IoT), where data can be collected from millions of sensors deployed in factories.
The biggest challenge in this scenario is the amount of data that needs to be collected, transported and analysed.
Fujitsu has launched a new brand, IntelliEdge, providing network edge intelligence to alleviate this challenge.
“With a so-called in intelligent edge, enterprises can gain an unprecedented end-to-end view of entire production processes and makes the smart factory possible,” says Duncan Tait, corporate executive officer: senior executive vice-president and head of Americas and EMEIA at Fujitsu.
The intelligent edge does this by collecting, controlling and using the vast amounts of data generated by sensors deployed in operational technology (OT) environments of manufacturing, power generation and the oil and gas industry.
To improve manageability, the intelligent edge also allows for the creation of “digital twins”, providing a realtime dashboard of what’s happening on the factory floor or in the supply chain.
“As well as making intelligent decisions based on this data and then filtering and feeding this data to the cloud, this gives organisations sight of entire supply chains,” Tait says. “This lets us use these new insights into entire networks to optimise and accelerate digital supply chains.”
Controlled via a console that runs on-premise or in the cloud, the IntelliEdge Edge Computing Appliance is integrated with robust, fully-configurable hardware designed for reliable, maintenance-free operation in remote locations and industrial environments.
IntelliEdge ships with open source Linux CentO and can run on other operating systems.
Andreas Rohnfelder, head of the Fujitsu Industry 4.0 Competence Centre, says: “The new frontier in the world of IoT is the ability to capture, analyze and act on data to optimise network edge systems in realtime.
“The IntelliEdge solution bridges the gap between OT on the shop floor and IT in the cloud or on-premise, providing visibility and easy management of entire, digitalised production chains.”
